1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distribution control apparatus for controlling the motion of an articulated manipulator, wherein distribution controllers are provided at the respective joints of the articulated manipulator.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a distribution control apparatus suitable for an articulated manipulator. The distribution control apparatus comprises a main CPU (Central Processing Unit), a motor control CPU, a communication control CPU, and an I/O (Input/Output) port control CPU. The motor control CPU, the communication control CPU and the I/O port control CPU are subordinate to the main CPU. The main CPU controls the overall operation of the articulated manipulator. The motor control CPU controls servomotors provided at the respective joints of the articulated manipulator. Namely, in the distribution control apparatus, the motor control, communication control, etc. are carried out distributively by corresponding CPUs.
A program, which is prepared on the basis of the operation of the articulated manipulator, is set in this distribution control apparatus. When the structure of the articulated manipulator is modified, the program must be rewritten and reset.
In addition, if any one of the CPUs malfunctions, this distribution control apparatus cannot control the articulated manipulator.